


It Will Shake Him and Break Him and Make Him Realise How Much He Means To Me

by orphan_account



Category: Kingdom Hearts, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Awesome Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Relationships, M/M, Major Character Injury, Miscommunication, Poor bb, Sad Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Wheelchairs, bitch i didnt want to hurt them it happened, i hate myself for using it as a plot point but they never see him anymore and he assumes the worst, pretty ooc actually, she’s more of a cameo but still badass
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-02-28 04:08:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13263363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Sora takes a break, but in his travels he crashes into a ship that leaves him stuck. The team on board take him in, but the consequences hurt him more than physically.





	1. Independence

**Author's Note:**

> So uhhh, I’ve been brewing this for a while.
> 
> This is purely fiction, I don’t feel this way about any of the characters it’s just how everything kind of happened. (besides kairi, i like her but she was unused potential.)

So, truth is, Sora hates work. He hates that he has the pressing fate of, well, everything on his shoulders, and it’s just considered his job. His responsibility. The fact that he hates work is clear, since everything started with a simple nap on the beach, in an attempt to avoid working.

Sora also hates that people look down on him for being happy, he hates that people think that he didn’t pass his exam because he’s too childish. He hates that those same people force responsibility on him.

He hates that no matter what, he’ll never say a word to Riku about how he is changing himself to be like him. Changing for the better, since that’s what makes a master apparently.

Sora needs to escape. He’ll leave, develop into a young man who is more like Riku, and return for an exam he will surely pass.

— I —

“But,” Kairi asks, she’s glad that he’s getting a break, but that won’t stop her from worrying. “Where will you go for this little vacation of yours?”

Sora shrugs. He’s rushing around in his room in Yen Sid’s tower, gathering things that he might need. Kairi frowns, hands on hips, and huffs.

“Just need a way to break free from the job, ya know?” Sora sighs. He moves his hand to ruffle his hair, but stops upon an intrusive thought;

Be more like Riku.

Sora knows that Kairi is worried for his wellbeing. She is one of his best friends after all, she knows the signs.

What of Riku? Riku has been graced with keyblade master responsibilities that are confidential and mean that Sora barely sees him with his own schedule, and Kairi sees him mostly during training.

Yeah, Riku is a responsible young man who doesn’t have time for immature teens like Sora. 

Kairi sighs.

“Okay, watch yourself!” She almost threatens. Sora laughs, moving towards her with his arms open. She happily reciprocates.

“See you in a few months.” Kairi chirps. Sora slings a bag over his shoulder, flashing a smile before exiting his room. Next came the tower, then the world. 

— I —

Leaving was the hard part. Sora looked back over his shoulder at the world he had just departed, the blinking lights of other worlds. He had, well, ‘stolen’ a gummi ship with the help of a colleague who cannot be named for legal reasons. 

Leaving the mysterious tower was the first step to becoming independent, the next step was to go out and do something, as sora had dubbed it, ‘edgy’. For example: Disappear into space for a year or so. That’s what Riku did. That was edgy and independent and totally awesome and everything Sora wanted to be.

Sora travelled for five hours, give or take, before coming across a world that looks fairly docile. He looks across a sea of stars and sees no other option but to land discreetly and sleep for a few hours before hitting the skies again.

As Sora aproaches, the shape of this world is more and more clear. The world is a disjointed masterpiece. Upon further inspection, he also notices light shining contently from the surface. Sora hums to himself gleefully.

“Check the details....” He annonces quietly to himself. Sora taps away at the control panel until a world scan gives him a feed of information.

“Huh.” He whispers. “Bal-me-ra?” Sora reads from the display. His eyes flick through the information for a minute before he finds what he wants. “Safe!” He cheers.

Sora clumsily closes the display, shifting the ship back into a faster flying speed. His landing in a tucked away cave is all but graceful, but he’s alive and wants to sleep.

— I —

Dreams of silver and azure blue dance in Sora’s dreams, and he knows he’s being watched over. 

Childish stupor and rivalry for the hand of one another reminds him of why he’s here. The silver is pushed away in favour of a dark purple, glittering around a red and blue sky. 

Sora’s heart feels a little lonelier.

— I —

Sora wakes up outside of his ship.

This is bad because he did not fall asleep outside of his ship, therefore he has been moved.

Conclusion, Sora’s probably gonna die.

A cold sweat encases Sora’s frame, he stands up quickly on shaking legs and runs from what he believes is an underground camp towards a light.

“Hey!” A gruff voice calls. Sora ignores it, keeps running until he’s out in the open and his ship is in sight. His legs are numb from tiredness, fear and lack of use. He reaches his ship on the rocky terrain. 

“Kid!” A different gruff voice cries out. “It’s not safe to fly yet!” Sora still decides against listening the message.

He leaps into his seat and begins punching anything into the control panel. The people who took him away look distressed, they’re catching up the him in the ship. The feeling returns to his legs as he slams them against everything at his feet in a panic.

Sora can’t focus, the beauty of his dream came at a cost but he can’t figure out what it was. He’s tired, he’s worried.

The gummi ship takes off, fast. Still too slow for Sora’s liking, but he has taken off. He can still hear the cries of the people on the world he has almost left behind.

He now sees why he was told to wait.

A ship, perhaps the size of an island, warps before his eyes and into the course of the gummi ship. The ships collide, all Sora feels in his legs is pain.


	2. Collision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something collided with the Castle of Lions. Keith and Lance investigate. Featuring a slightly sad Sora.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was started before Season 6, and it'll damn well stay before it. I have Too Many Emotions from it to even write about.
> 
> Edit: OOPS I FORGOT ABOUT ENDING OF THE FIRST CHAPTER. I FIXED CONTINUITY ERRORS AND NOW MY BOY SORA IS DONE FOR.

Something, or someone - quite the chilling though, that last one - collided with the Castle of Lions. The Castle of Lions is nigh indestructible, which is what worries Lance. This thing, came up from Balmura, and peirced the side of the Castle of Lions instead of being destroyed upon impact.  
Whatever it was shouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately for Lance, it is. And the castle's sensors say that whatever it is, survived the collision.

Lance shivered.

So, thanks to this dumb collision or whatever, Lance was in some ancient-but-super-advanced boiler room of some sort. Clearly disused, and a clear setting for a horror movie that Lance loved back on Earth, before his life became a borderline horror movie.

"Lance, Keith," Allura had said. "You two go that way. Shiro and I will go this way."  
Lance had reddened a little at that. Allura, the sly dog, knows that Lance and Keith's relationship has been developing recently.

The tech whirred steadily, the dim lights not helping the case of Prime Horror Material.

"Lance, pay attention." Keith grouched from where he lurked in shadows - so that if it was alive it couldn't get the jump on him- Lance looked to him on auto-pilot. Lance instantly became totally focused on Keith, and then the task, and then back to the fact that they were looking for some ominous.... thing.

"Right. Sorry, but why are we looking for some mysical penetrating object?" Lance snorted. Keith didn't seem to get the joke, too absorbed in his stealth searching.  
Or however stealthy he could be when Lance was with him.

"For all we know," Lance said. "This thing could penetrate us too! Wait....."

"I'd just love to hear about you being penetrated, Lance, but I've found something." Keith laughed. Lance huffed quietly, earning a cute little brow waggle from Keith. His sense of humour was finally rubbing off on the red paladin. "It's the scar."

Lance's eyes followed the trail of busted up machinery carefully. His eyes were greeted with a crater in the wall; had the walls been thinner the object would have broken into the next room! Goddamn.

Keith approached slowly, while Lance just waltzed on over. Lance either doesn't care for his own wellbeing, or just doesn't know how to be stealthy, Keith figured. He grimaced at the thought of anything bad happening to Lance.

Lance slowed his pace to crouch down and inspect whatever it was, Keith trying to stop him from doing anything to get them maimed.

"Hey, it's a kid." Lance shouted before Keith could stop him. "Maybe even younger than us!"

Keith picked up his speed.

"Hey," Lance tried with the teen boy that was covered in ruined machinery and dirt. "Hey, dude. Wake up." Keith rolled his eyes as he too approached the body of the boy.

He was barely scathed from what Keith could see, the worst injury was a dislocated right arm, a few scratches along his pale, delicate face. It was a fucking miracle he was even alive. There had to be something worse going on here.

Keith crouched down to inspect the boy closer.

The kid looked dead. Zombie-like. It was disturbing for the both of them. Lance leaned into the kid's space, placing fingers where he knew a pulse should be.  
It was there, really, really weak, but there. Thank god. Lance hadn't particularly wanted to deal with a corpse on that day. He started to remove some of the rubble from the boy's legs.

Oh, fuck. Looks like he wasn't unscathed. There was... one thing. Or two.

His legs were bent totally out of place, in multiple areas on each leg. Lance felt the blood rush from his face.

"Holy shit. His legs are-" Lance's voice wavered. Keith was barely even looking at the legs, he glanced and they were so.... horrific. That he didn't want to see them again.

"I'm taking him to a healing pod, you go and find Shiro and Allura." Stated Keith. Lance sighed in response, but Keith was already moving to lift the boy over his shoulder.

"Hey- maybe we shouldn't manhandle him. Kid's been through enough already." Said Lance, earning a guilty look from his partner.

"Right. Sorry. See you in a tick." Keith said fondly. Lance smiled gently and they parted ways.

__ II __

A few days passed since the legendary penetration incident, and the unusally spiky and now probably wheelchair bound child was still in the pod. They had completed their visit to the Balmurans in that time and had been informed that this kid had crash-landed, gone into a fucking coma, woken up, run away, and summoned some flying device that once again crashed.

The kid was made of vibranium, Pidge speculated. As a fellow comic nerd, Hunk laughed and agreed. As someone who doesn't really know what a joke is unless it's from Lance and blatantly sexual, Keith asked why he would be made out of something that sounds made up when he's human-passing.

"His stats said that it was only his legs that were screwed to hell. His arm injury was easily fixed." Pidge reeled off. "I'm kind of worried about his legs, but he should have woken up, right?"

Hunk hummed along to her ranting.  
"Maybe it's not just something to do with his physical form. Is there anyway for us to check his......quintessence? Or his mentality. Just to be sure." Hunk speculated. Pidge's brows furrowed.  
But she didn't object. She prepared to run the tests with some help from Coran. The healing pod just needed to accept the new commands and-

The healing pod spat the kid out, awake and vaguely confused.

Scratch that. Extremely confused.

His unnaturally spiky hair was even more unruly than it was when he went in, the bright blue of his eyes was glazed as if he was still trying to wake up. He jerkily moved to sit himself up against something. His legs clearly weren't co-operating. Shit.

"Damn, I'd better not check my journal and all it says is 'Thank Naminé'. Again." The kid groaned. Pidge and Coran stared at him in stunned silence. "Uh, hey? Donald, can you, uh, maybe cast cure? I'm not feeling so hot-"

He cracked his back, Pidge winced at the familiar sound. Many nights crouched over a computer can do that to a person.

"Who the quiznak is Donald?" Pidge whispered to Coran, who shrugged.  
The kid slowed his movements, though still rubbing his eyes. He heard them but hadn't processed it yet.

"Hey guys, how're the tests- OH JEEZ-" Hunk chose, possibly, the most terrible moment to walk in. The kid's eyes snapped open, revealing a deep sea blue framed by long eyelashes.

"Woah! Who the heck are you guys?" The kid yelled. Hunk froze up, like a deer in the headlights. Pidge would have too, but she was too focused on getting her bayard ready to attack. The kid apparently recognised the motion, holding a hand up in defence.

"Please tell me what's happening, I just woke up. I haven't felt this crap since I slept for a whole year." Whined the kid petulantly. Still no notice of the legs, it was just a matter of time.

Hunk composed himself to move to the kid's not-so-hostile side, while Pidge lowered her bayard, suddenly interested.

"You slept for a year?!" Coran gasped. "Goodness, my boy you must have been borderline terminal!"

The kid chuckled sadly, but shrugged. He moved to stand up. Pidge winced. she moved in with the distraction method.

"Hey, I didn't catch your name." Pidge said nervously. Hunk frowned at her from where he knelt by him, propping his back up gently.

Luckily he took the bait and kept himself on the floor. He must've been exhausted, Pidge thought.

"I- I'm Sora." He stuttered. Pidge sighed her thankfulness to whatever was giving her this fortune. Sora rose his brows to ask for their names in return.

"Oh! I'm Pidge, the big happy guy by you is Hunk. Moustache man is Coran, and Keith and Lance are the red and blue boys." Pidge grinned. Sora furrowed his brows.

"I'm sorry but did I crash into your ship?" Sora asked. Pidge paused. Ah.

The thing was, it wasn't blatantly obvious that he'd managed to total his legs anymore. The altean version of casts had been removed the day before and they looked healed! Sora's legs were an established problem, and weren't what was causing the problem with his waking. It was something else, but this was much harder to break to someone.

His legs needed to heal on their own now. The pods couldn't heal broken bones completely. Not when the nerves were so damaged too. 

It'll take months at best considering how bad they were. He was stuck with them.

"I remember crashing into a ship- and my legs hurt like hell!" Sora was piecing it together, clearly. "Y-you knew about that right?"

Pidge, Hunk, and Coran all nodded slowly.

Sora winced.

"That bad huh?" He chuckled, taking the others by complete surprise.

"You're okay with your legs being totally fucked for months? And even then you'll have to learn how to walk again!" Pidge was incredulous. Sora shrugged.

"I was inactive for a whole year, and I've forgotten all of my abilities because I'm so......" Sora paused. "...incapable." Hunk knew when a guy wanted to say something more self-depreciating, living with Lance for a few years made it easier to notice the signs. 

Pidge found herself sighing again.

"Coran," Hunk interrupted whatever Pidge was going to say. He'd apologise later, but it was probably best to get this out of the way. "Could you find us a wheelchair?"

Sora closed his eyes silently, hoping that the man who he'd seen in brief interludes of his slumber to be his medical carer, would say 'What are you on about? He doesn't need that! He'll be fine soon enough!'. 

"Of course." Agreed Coran quietly. Sora let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding.

Sora was yet to open his eyes when he let an anguished "Fuck." slip past his lips.

Sora listened to his surroundings. Hunk's hand patting his back sympathetically, Pidge's shuffling feet, Coran's frantic searching for a wheelchair, the med bay's doors hissing open, and four pairs of feet walking in.

It must've been the others. 

Sora opened his eyes to see the red and blue boys, Keith and Lance, and a regal pretty lady wearing pink, with a larger muscular man.

Sora plastered on a grin.

"Hey! Keith and Lance right?" Sora greeted cheerily, causing Pidge to frown at him pointedly and Hunk to sigh. Keith and Lance both looked over at him wearily, but smiled either way.

"You got it!" Lance cheered. Sora laughed, the lighter mood much appreciated.

Coran called Pidge away to help with pulling the wheelchair out of whatever crevice it was stored in. Sora winced once again.

"Nice to meet my personal heroes." Sora smiled. Keith blushed as Lance seemed to glow under the compliments. "I'm Sora, certified teenage disaster." The wheelchair lookalike alien tech was freed and being moved towards him. "And I'm about to be put in an advanced alien wheelchair!"

Lance looked a little sad at that, but not surprised. Well, if he's the one that found him then he would've seen what his legs were like after the collision. 

"Don't get too excited." Said Pidge dryly. She was already starting to remind Sora of Riku. 

Riku and his supernatural tendencies. Riku and his dry humour. Riku and his..... 

No time for being lovestruck, Sora reminded himself. That's the only reason he's here. Trying to run from his arguably perceived problems. Now he can't even walk from them properly.

 

"Okay, buddy." Hunk announced. Sora let himself be lifted by the hunk that was Hunk, and eased into the chair.

Any background chatter had stopped at this point, to see if Sora was okay. He was touched by the worry.

"Kairi would laugh at me if she saw this." Said Sora. The others all frowned, going straight in to say that that wasn't a good thing. "Not like that! She'd say it was fate, and ironic and that I'm stupid."

"Ironic?" Muscles asked. "Why?"

"Y'see, muscles, I'm here because I'm trying to better my keyblade wielding," Sora cited. Coran and the regal lady perked up. 

"And I'm kind of.... running from my problems." Sora snorted. Pidge chuckled a little but the others just seemed totally confused. Besides Coran and the lady, who looked in awe of him.

Keith noticed this too.

"Allura, Coran? What did you realise."

"Sora! You're a miracle!" The lady- Allura- smiled. Her eyes sparkled in complete joy. Sora grimaced.

"My boy, you're our saviour!"


	3. Frantic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riku hasn't seen Sora for months, but for Sora it's been a few weeks at best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is suuuuper rushed but i had an idea for this chapter and had to go with it before i forgot

Riku didn't see Sora for a month or so before he left on an extended vacation. This doesn't really come as a surprise to anyone, since Riku is away on missions so frequently. So frequently that Kairi has taken to questioning wether he's actually going on missions.

She checked with Yen Sid, he really is doing that many damn missions!

But now, the alloted time for Sora's break is up, gone in the blink of an eye.

Maybe he just got caught up? Or perhaps the passing of time was different where Sora was.

\-- III --

The three weeks Sora spent with the guys at Voltron, there was surprisingly no attacks from the Galra, and he'd learnt a lot about everyone.

Pidge, resident gremlin, liked to pull all-nighters for maybe five nights in succession. Despite this, she was still a genius with tech, alien or not. Sora was begining to become attached to her.

She was fiddling around with his... temporary arrangement to increase it's speed for Maximum Fun despite his bound state, and she fell asleep on him. Just... passed out from days of forgoing sleep. Sora had never felt more blessed in his whole life. Not even when seven actual princesses called him their friend.

He nor Pidge ever brought it up, be she was always invited to nap on him if she couldn't sleep.

\-- III -- 

Riku was finally back. Not for just a few days, but for an undisclosed amount of time!

He was ecstatic about his break, at last he could just relax with Kairi and Sora.

Except, Sora was gone, apparently.

"What do you mean he's gone?" Asked Riku. A pit had settled in his stomach. Kairi had seemed to be stressed about this too, to the point where she'd developed heavy bags under her eyes from lack of sleep. 

"I don't know Riku? He's just gone! No trace of the gummi ship, no- no nothing!" She breathed sadly. "If you were here to talk some sense into him, he might've not gone."

Kairi had tears in her eyes now.

Riku regrets chosing the mission over his friends.

\-- III --

The light of Sora's experience so far has been Hunk's constant cheer and unabashed kindness. His cooking was unparalleled by any chef, and Sora would gladly eat any meal presented by him.

"Hunk," Sora asked one day. Hunk was cooking something special at Sora's request; a recreation of Sora's favourite meal, Gyudon. "Space time is kind of, weird right?"

Hunk nodded his agreement.

"Would time be passing differently here than where I came from?" 

Hunk paused.

"I dunno, depends on where it is in relation to where we are, and a whole bunch of other crap."

Sora nodded. He wheeled his way to be closer to Hunk's cooking. He inhaled deeply and smiled at the nostalgia, despite the difficulties in finding alien ingredients that could replicate the foods.

"Mom always put a little bit of sansho in. For an extra kick! Chichi loved it." Sora smiled. Sora's infectuous smile naturally made Hunk smile too.

\-- III --

Mickey was working on where the gummi ship's tracker was last located with Donald, Goofy, Chip, and Dale. Riku and Kairi trained with Lea, preparing for a message that tells them where to go and save Sora.

It was awful that they were assuming the worst, but five months without contact is the longest Sora has ever voluntarily gone without some form of contact.

Something told Riku that a message in a bottle wouldn't reach Sora this time.

\-- III --

Lance was fiercely loyal, to Keith and his team. Sora envied his ability to deal with pressure and remain upbeat and humorous. He also envied the fact that he was able to actually talk to people when they liked them. Sora certainly couldn't do that. 

Sora lazed in the common room with Lance and Keith. Keith dozed on Lance's shoulder after a long day of training.

Sora was sat near them, out of his chair and on the couch.

"Too bad there's no TV." Sora sighed. Lance groaned his mutual annoyance.

"Tell me about it." Lance huffed. Keith groaned a little, probably from the disturbance. Lance quieted his voice. "I miss watching trashy shows. Life was so calm."

Sora sighed.

"Life before saving the world multiple times, right? But going back to it now would just be boring."Sora laughed quietly. Lance rose a brow at Sora.

"I know you're our godsend miracle, but multiple times? Dude, you must be older than you look."

"I was fourteen the first time. Nearly sixteen the second. The three of us barely knew what we were doing, but we trusted the key." Sora said. 

Lance hummed sadly. He was playing with Keith's hair, only half listening to Sora.

Sora smiled and quietly observed the two.

It reminded him of what he wanted. Why he wanted to get away. But he was still happy for them.

Love during war is a battle in of itself.

\-- III --

Kairi and Riku laid in the grass outside of Yen Sid's tower. A rare calm day between training and searching, an occurrence that was becoming more and more scarce.

"Kairi." Said Riku. He kept his gaze on the orange hues of the sunset. 

"Hm?" Kairi said in response. She turned on her side to look at Riku.

"When you said that I could have stopped Sora. What- what did you mean?" Riku asked. Kairi paused.

"You don't know?" She asked instead of just giving a straight answer. Riku pulled an incomprehensible face. Kairi laughed, but it was pained, ironic. "You two are going to kill me, honestly!"

"What?"

"Because," Kairi sighed. "He was going away to make himself better. He said it was a vacation, but he was lying."

Riku stared at her.

"Why would he want to be better?" He asked. His voice was more clearly sorrowful now. This was all because of self esteem?

Kairi only shook her head.

"It's more than that. But... I can't tell you. When we find Sora, he'd kill me if I told you, and you'd be erratic! More so than now!"

Riku sat up.

Huh.

\-- III --

Shiro's culture is similar to that of Sora's father's, and Sora regarded Shiro as a paternal figure over the three weeks of his settling in anyways. Sora admired Takashi Shirogane's strength, physical and mental. The resemblance between Shiro and Sora's dad was barely existent, but the way Shiro held himself and spoke reminded Sora of his father, the only man besides Riku that made him want to be strong.

As embarrassing as it was...

Sora slipped up.

"Oto-san, could you help me up?" Sora asked casually, before he even realised what he was saying. Shiro didn't realise either, until Keith mentioned it after Shiro lifted Sora from his chair and onto the couch. Sora could have totally done it himself, but sometimes being lifted by a broad friend is more fun.

"Doesn't that mean.... dad..?" Keith asked. Sora flushed red.

"N-no!" Sora stuttered, just as Shiro chuckled "Yeah."

"Well," Shiro smiled at Sora. "Welcome to the family kiddo."

Sora just blushed more.

\-- III --

Riku thought about what Kairi said solidly for days. He kept asking her for more information, a clue, a sign, anything. All she said was that he was stupid, she loved him but he was stupid.

Riku dreampt of Sora every night now. His vivid blue eyes, and intricate face. The scar directly in the centre of his chest, a lighter shade than the rest of Sora's tanned skin.

Sora was Riku's mission.

\-- III --

Coran. He was unlike anyone Sora had ever met. He seemed to possess a kind of.... magical abilities. He could sense when you're feeling down, and knew exactly how to help you feel better.

Coran found Sora brooding in his room. On the floor. It was only a few days after he had first gotten the wheelchair. He was adjusting, okay?

"Thank goodness, you're alright." At a sharp look from Sora, Coran raised his hands defensively. "Sorry, sorry. Let me help you into that chair and we'll go for some food."

Sora wasn't one to refuse food, so he let Coran assist him into the chair.

"What's bothering you, my boy?" Coran's innocent curiosity was a breath if fresh air. He only wanted to find out to make the situation better.

"Being alone on the floor had me thinking about why I'm here." Sora paused, and stopped wheeling his chair. "I mean. In this castle, in a wheelchair. It's like I'm being punished, but it's not bad? I don't know how to explain it."

"It's fine, I understand what you mean." Coran hummed. Sora stopped again.

"You really think I'm your saviour? I'm practically useless without working legs." Sora sighed. Coran hummed again.

"Well, you are! Keyblade weilders are altean legend!" Coran said. Sora frowned. "But it wasn't always action, my boy! Oho, no! Some stories told of the weilders coming to altea for help, and learning something about themselves, which then went on to help the people of altea, too!"

Sora nodded and continued to make his way to the dining hall with Coran in a comfortable silence.

\-- III --

Riku was frantic now. Nobody could pinpoint a specifc place to look, not even Cid. And Riku's dreams were becoming more and more... upsetting.

Sora and Riku's link was prevailing across the distance. Riku was seeing Sora's anguished dreams of complete strangers, in foreign armour and strange ships. He sees Sora wading through them to reach a light at the end of the tunnel, but his legs give way and stop working entirely.

Then Riku wakes up.

"Kairi. I- I think his legs don't work." Riku managed to bring himself to say. Kairi stared at him in confusion from across her cereal bowl. "In my dreams, I watch him wade through these strangers until his legs stop working completely-"

Kairi put a hand on Riku's arm.

"We'll find him."

\-- III --

Allura, frankly, scared Sora.

She was powerful, she was a princess, and she was beautiful.

She also feared Sora.

"U- um. Allura, your highness, I'm sorry to bother you. But I just need to talk to someone." Sora asked on a day when the others were training, and he just felt like he shouldn't worry people who clearly care about love, with his own love.

"Oh! Yes, please feel free to talk to me!" She squeaked. She leant on the dashboard of the castle, trying to engage, but with Sora looking at his hands in his lap nervously it was difficult.

"You seemed like the right person to talk to about this, I don't know." Sora thought for a second. "I feel like I'd tain Keith and Lance's relationship if I told them, Pidge has too much going on in her head, Shiro is like my dad, and I'd feel bad if I upset Hunk! And Coran is too nice, I think I need someone to snap me out of it."

He really had Allura's attention now.

"What is it you wanted to talk about, Sora?" Allura asked, trying not to be obviously interested.

"I- I'm in love. And I have been for a long time." Sora choked out. This was emotional for him.

Allura's heart dropped. He wanted her to... snap him out of love?

"What? Why is this a bad thing?" Allura panicked. "You haven't been hurt in the past have you?!"

"No! No." Said Sora. "I'm just... so sad that I'm not good enough for him."

Allura's brows rose.

"Not good enough? That's ridiculous!" She scoffed.

Sora looked her in the eyes. 

"You don't know him. I may be a wielder, but he's a master. And my best friend." 

"Don't be stupid, Sora." Allura said more fondly now. Sora made eye contact again. "I may have only known you initally thanks to your wielding, but these past weeks have been enlightening. You're an amazing person. An astounding team player. You're what Lance would call 'a catch'."

Sora's face flushed red at Allura's blatant positivity. Allura was beaming, her expression held no lies.

"Thank you Princess."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for making it this far!   
> please point out grammatical and spelling mistakes, i cant get better if yall dont tell me


	4. Keith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sora spends time with Keith.
> 
> Riku and Kairi make a discovery.

The training deck was of little use to Sora, he couldn't traverse it as he usually would. He normally liked to just watch the others in there, the sounds of their weapons reminding him of his own endeavours.

This fine day - night? Everything in space is so unclear - Sora heard someone in the training deck. His curiosity got the better of him and he just had to peer in.

And there sat Keith against a wall, panting and heaving. Sora wheeled over to him. Keith noticed and stiffened, but Sora wasn't one to give up on someone becoming his friend.

"Hi." Was all Sora said. Keith grunted and kept his eyes averted. "I hope you don't mind me being in here while you train." 

Keith sighed as he stood back up. The spot where he was sat was a little sweaty. Gross, but understandable.

"It's fine. I was just leaving." Said Keith. Sora frowned. 

Keith speedily made his way to the door, but Sora trailed after him.

"H-hey! Keith!" Keith halted, causing Sora to crash into the back of his legs. "Out of all the paladins, I've spent the least time with you. I'm not gonna give up until you're my friend!" Keith furrowed his brows. 

"Fine. Watch me if you want. But I'm not making friendship bracelets with you."

"Aw, I was looking forward to doing that with everyone!" 

Keith laughed.

Sora considered that a victory.

\-- IV --

Mickey had managed to locate where the last point the tracker was active - a distant world with astounding visuals that Sora would have definitely loved.

After that the trail died. The only hope they had was Riku's connection to Sora's dreams.

\-- IV --

Keith's fighting patterns were mesmerising. His movements were a masterful, brutal dance and the blade was his partner. Something about Keith reminded Sora of Riku.

"Woah! You're so cool!" Sora beamed. Keith flushed a little, covering his face with his bangs. "Sit with me! You've inspired me to tell a story of my own epic adventures!"

Keith rose his brows. His blade disappeared into his pocket, and the simulation shut off.

"What kind of adventures?" Keith asked. Sora smiled even more.

Keith sauntered over to Sora at his beckoning. Sora pointed to the floor where Keith should sit. Keith felt like a little kid again but it wasn't vulnerable, it was songs by a campfire, building dens in a forrest, sharing memories with friends.

Friends.

Man, Sora was getting to him.

The chipper voice peirced his thoughts.

"Wanna know volume one, two, or three?" Sora asked with a waggle of his brows. Keith frowned at him. 

"Shit, kid, what's happened to you?" Keith grimaced.

"Ah, all three volumes of the story it is." Sora rubbed his hands together. "I can't guarantee that this retelling will be void of nostalgia, or uncomfortable emotions." 

"Heh. Story of my life."

\-- IV --

Yen Sid proposed they monitor Riku's dreams. Kairi yelled at him for not doing that during the mark of mastery exam, but agreed. Riku however was more reluctant.

Despite the distressing dreams of Sora, he still had the odd dream of...... intimacy with Sora.

He's a teenage boy, leave him be.

"Riku, we don't care about those dreams." Kairi insisted. Riku's favour was turned as their cheeks were. He was grateful. 

"Indeed. We only wish to monitor dreams in which we can pinpoint a location of Sora." Yen Sid comforted.

Riku still wasn't all that happy, but he wanted to find Sora. Prove the unsaid point that was left between the two of them.

One night Riku's dream gives them exactly what they want. A recreation of a collision into a ship, the strange people that surrounded him when he emerged from the collision. Riku felt the panic and pain through the dream until it all snapped away from his grasp because Sora awoke.

Riku woke up with a snap, undressed and unperturbed he dashed to where Yen Side and Mickey were deep in conversation.

"I know where he is."

**Author's Note:**

> so,, that was bad. i don’t have a beta so correct any mistakes, i beg of you.
> 
> i got a tumblr it’s uh
> 
> www.dingding-dongo.tumblr.com
> 
> send me abuse there i have no friends


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